PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo has again lauded the committed lobbying efforts during the big battle this year for Guyana and some other countries to secure a 100% debt write-off from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) effective from January 1, 2007.
He, however, lashed out at the double standards by some, especially developed European countries, during those negotiations.
While lauding the United States and Brazil for being “good allies” in supporting the lobbying efforts, Mr. Jagdeo Thursday said he found it strange that countries like the United Kingdom and others in Europe abstained from voting and supporting the effort.
“It was a big battle because not all of the countries wanted to agree to this; in fact most of the European countries abstained and I find this very strange since they like to say they are in the forefront of assisting the developing world, including the United Kingdom,” the Guyanese Head of State lamented.
“They like to say that they are the champions of debt relief but yet they abstained from voting on the last proposal which came out of the Board of Governors meeting to give a 100% debt relief effective January 1, 2007,” the President told reporters at an end-of-year news conference at the Presidential Secretariat in Georgetown.
“Fortunately, the resolution was passed because we had strong support from regional members, especially Brazil, Venezuela and the United States,” he said.
He noted that the IDB Board of Governors “already voted on 100% debt relief” for Guyana and the other four Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPIC) in the region, effective January 1.
The President noted that during the recent Cochabamba Summit in Bolivia he was able to secure the South American Community of Nations’ (SACN) endorsement of the IDB debt-relief resolution.
This resolution petitions the Committee of Board of Governors of the IDB for 100 per cent debt-relief of Guyana’s stock of debt with December 2004 as its cut off point, to take effect January 1, 2007.
With Brazil and the U.S. holding close to 60 per cent of the shareholding of the IDB, President Jagdeo said the Bolivia summit provided an excellent opportunity for Guyana to press its case.
Governors of the IDB meeting in Washington, DC last month reached an agreement on the framework for a debt-relief package for the most indebted poor countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.
This is expected to result in debts being cancelled to Guyana, Bolivia, Haiti, Honduras and Nicaragua.
The principles of the framework stipulate that 100 per cent debt-relief be granted, with effect from January 1, 2007, to the five countries eligible for the concessional Fund for Special Operations (FSO) window of the IDB.
These countries, however, will continue to have access to concessional loans and technical cooperation grants from the IDB.
The specific details of the package, such as the cut-off date and the definition of the eligible debt will be decided at a subsequent meeting of the Committee of Governors. This will be held in time for the agreements reached to be presented to the annual meeting of the IDB Board of Governors in Guatemala, in March 2007.
“I am very pleased to say that when we went to Cochamaba, Boliva, we got the Presidents of the 12 countries to pass a resolution insisting that the cutoff date for the debt relief should be December 2004 and that the total stock should be eligible and we are very pleased that the bank is now inclined to discuss that proposal because the 12 countries in South America own a significant part of the IDB,” Mr. Jagdeo told reporters.
“So that trip I made to Bolivia…was designed for that purpose and I am very pleased that this process is moving forward,” the President said.
He noted that what this write-off would mean for Guyana is that around US$460M of debt relief would be given next year if everything goes well.
“…and I think that so far it is going extremely well,” he added.